Things to do in London this weekend, from Frank Auerbach to Drumsheds

Does experimental theatre fill you with fear? Try Nassim Soleimanpour’s project, which has an A-list cast lined up. The premise: each night, a different actor will step on the stage without having rehearsed or even seen a script. What happens next is anybody’s guess. Who’s up for it? Minnie Driver, Toby Jones, Michael Sheen, Daisy Edgar-Jones and more.

Frank Auerbach famously dubbed London as “this raw thing…This extraordinary, marvellously unpainted city.” Unpainted? He soon put paid to that, and this show brings together arguably the very best of his London works, chosen from his sprawling, seven-decade career. See the crowds on Oxford Street, the great greens of Hampstead Heath and more through the eyes of one of Britain’s truly great artists.

Let’s look at the food first, which is put together by Adam Simmonds (Ynyshir, Le Manoir et al). In what used to be Odette’s, Simmons is promising fine dining as befits his two-star experience, though it’s keenly-priced, with six courses of modern British cooking at £65. But Home Kitchen is about something else: Simmons aside, it will be staffed by the homeless, who will be paid above the London Living Wage, receive full training, and have travel expenses covered. Something to raise a glass to.

In cinemas from October 4

Back in January, this was the 2024 release everyone was chattering about. And chatter they still are, only for slightly different reasons. In a bid to lighten the mood from the bleak first Joaquin Phoenix Joker (why so serious?), Lady Gaga has been hauled aboard and, well, now it’s a musical. At its Venice premiere last month, the crowd didn’t warm to the bonkers concept. Worth a look, if only for the audacity of it all.